Speak With Your Heart
by LunaticTKR
Summary: A few days after the first murder and execution, Hajime Hinata suddenly finds Mahiru Koizumi knocking on the door to his room. Little did they know what this simple event would eventually lead to... Rated M for subtle mention of character death.
1. Speak With Your Heart

*Knock-Knock*

"Coming! Just a second!"

Hajime, laying on his bed thinking to himself, had not expected guests to arrive at this time. After all, they had all eaten dinner, it was only a few hours before bedtime and basically everyone had already gone into their cabin for the night. Considering the current mood, he wasn't really surprised that no-one was feeling very well. Hell, Teruteru's execution still lingered in his mind, as much as he desperately tried to keep it away from popping back into his memory. And yet, the sound of a few knocks on the door could not be mistaken for anything else.

"Who could it be?"

His thoughts were interrupted by another knock on the door.

*Knock-Knock-Knock!*

Realising he'd spent too much time thinking about the current situation than actually getting up and answering the door, he quickly got up and walked over to the door, not wanting to leave anyone waiting outside. He opened the door, only to find someone he didn't expect standing outside. He had expected Souda or Chiaki to be standing outside, as those were undoubtedly the two people he had spent the most time with on the island. Instead, he found a red-haired girl with her hands behind her back, a little stirred from the sudden shock of the door being opened after waiting for so long.

"Gah! Jeez, you scared me! I thought you were never going to open…"

Hajime didn't really know how to react to the fact that Mahiru Koizumi was standing outside his door. The two of them weren't on bad term by any means, but they just never really talked to one another. Hajime was mainly being dragged off by Souda on whatever adventures he'd desired to go on, while Mahiru had to care for Hiyoko, and help her with all of her problems. Whenever the two of them would talk, it would usually boil down into a very predictable pattern. The situation would be pretty awkward, Hajime would usually be the first to try and strike up a conversation, although Mahiru would quickly take control of it. Then it usually resulted in Mahiru lecturing Hajime for something he didn't really pay attention to, like his clothes being just a little wrinkled, or getting some dirt on his sleeve. While he undoubtedly found it a tad bit annoying, he mainly looked at it as Mahiru's way of caring for him. She cared about everyone on the island, and that was just her way of showing him that he was a part of "everyone" too. Even so, the fact still stood that they weren't the closest of friends, and he was still very much surprised to see her at this time of day, outside his own room.

"Mahiru? What are you doing here?"

He blurted out the question without even thinking about it. It didn't really occur to him that she actually had a reason for being here.

Mahiru's eyes went down towards the ground for a bit before she answered:

"Look, I just wanna talk with someone… And Hiyoko's already asleep, so… y'know…"

Hajime took a few seconds to process what he had just heard. While of course she would always talk to Hiyoko before anyone else, did what she just said indicate that he was second in line? He was the one right after Hiyoko on the list of people that Mahiru wanted to talk to amongst everyone? He found it hard to believe, and eventually decided that he was reading way too deeply into it. There probably wasn't any reason behind it… right?

Hajime blushed slightly before responding to Mahiru's question:

"Sure! I mean, if you're okay with talking to me, that is…"

Mahiru quickly responded in what Hajime would call a very "Mahiru-ish" way, with her hands on her sides, leaning slightly forward:

"If I didn't want to talk to you, do you really think I would have come here in the first place?!"

Hajime, feeling kind of embarrassed for giving her an opportunity to yell at him, tried his best to think of a response that could calm her down a little:

"Right. Sorry, didn't quite think the entire thing through…"

Mahiru dropped her arms down her sides, letting her shoulders relax.

"Jeez… It's okay, don't worry about it…"

Hajime sighed, relieved that his response had worked in calming the redhead down.

"Thanks. Uh, hey, wanna come inside?"

He only just realised that, despite being on a magical tropical island, the weather could still get quite cold in the late evening. He felt a breeze coming towards him, partially blocked by Mahiru standing right in front of him, blocking most of the wind from coming through the doorway. The breeze had an instant effect on Mahiru, causing her skirt to flutter slightly, and herself to shiver a little.

"Yeah. This wind is surprisingly cold."

Stepping aside, Hajime held the door open to let the photographer inside his room. He quickly closed the door and watched Mahiru take her shoes off.

"Your room's pretty bland, huh?"

Hajime didn't really know how to respond. He'd seen a lot of the other rooms for himself already, and almost everyone had done something to make it unique to them. Chiaki's room was filled with posters for video games, Souda's was cluttered with different mechanical gadgets, and of course, Mahiru's room, or at least the board above her desk, was filled with a bunch of photos, all taken on the island they were currently on. Hajime hadn't really given his own room much thought.

"Yeah, I guess it is. Then again, I don't really remember my talent, so… Not much help there."

Mahiru chuckled as she got up from getting her shoes off.

"Well, if you ever want some photos to hang up, let me know!"

"I will. Thanks."

Hajime sat down on his bed, gesturing for Mahiru to sit next to him.

"Wanna sit here and talk, or…?"

"Sure."

Mahiru made her way over to the bed, before stopping when she got close.

"Hajime, your bed is a mess! Have you even probably made your bed today?"

Hajime scratched his neck and smiled apologetically at her.

"Haha… Uhh… Didn't really… feel like making it… today."

Mahiru once again placed her hands on her sides and leaning forward.

"Jeez… Alright, stand up, I'll do it."

Hajime, not wanting to cause her any trouble, quickly rejected her offer.

"No, no, it's fine, I don't wanna cause you trouble or anyth-"

"It's okay! It really is, just let me do it."

Not wanting to get into an argument, Hajime got up from the bed.

"Thanks. This should only take a few seconds…"

When Mahiru finished, Hajime could've sworn his bed looked even better than when he first arrived.

"Hey, you're pretty good at that. Thanks."

Mahiru quickly turned to him and smiled while they both sat down on the bed.

"No problem! I'm used to dealing with this sort of stuff anyways…"

"This sort of stuff?"

"Yeah, y'know, cleaning, cooking, general housekeeping."

"You do it a lot?"

"Yeah… I'm mostly the only one in my house who can do it, so…"

Hajime didn't really notice it before, but he really was impressed with all the responsibilities Mahiru could take care of at once. She was the one who befriended Hiyoko when no-one else really cared or wanted to, she's great at taking care of people, and to top it all off, she does all the housework herself? He couldn't help but find it impressive.

As he was thinking about her, Mahiru eventually broke that train of thought by suddenly speaking up.

"So… That thing I wanted to talk about…"

Hajime took notice of Mahiru's complete shift in tone. Her previously happy and a bit shy way of talking was replaced suddenly by a quiet, worrying tone. He knew that whatever she wanted to talk about, it would be serious. Mahiru's face was facing away from his own, her eyes staring down on the bed. Her fingers were grasped firmly around the bedsheet. Whatever she had to say now, Hajime knew he had to listen. He couldn't suddenly just back out of talking with her. Out of everyone, she had chosen to talk about this with him.

She wanted to talk about this with him.

"Oh, right… What did you want to talk about?"

Mahiru stayed silent. Her eyes continued to stare blankly down at the bed she was currently sitting on. She grasped the bedsheets tighter.

"It's just…"

Her voice was struggling to come out. It was easy to see that whatever she was going to say, it would be something she wouldn't just talk about with everyone.

"I… feel afraid."

She turned her head and looked directly into Hajime's eyes. Hajime could spot what seemed like tears slowly appearing in her own eyes.

"I wanted to… to trust in everyone. I… I hoped that if we all worked together… No-one would have to die… And yet…"

She grasped the bedsheet even tighter than before, to the point that she could almost tear a hole in it.

"Byakuya… Teruteru… they both… they both died… And I… I don't want that to happen to anyone else. I… don't want more people to die…"

Mahiru covered her face with her hands. It didn't stop the tears, that were now crawling down her hands and arms instead of dropping straight off her face and down onto the bed.

Hajime was in a state of shock. Here was Mahiru, the woman who represented everything about caring about other people, crying. Crying because she cares so much about the others. Crying because she wants to protect everyone.

Wiping away her tears, although not as fast as new ones appeared, Mahiru continued with her talk.

"But look at me. Compared to all of you, I'm only a photographer. I can't do anything to protect any of you…"

Hajime immediately reacted to the last sentence. He couldn't stand seeing Mahiru saying such things about herself. Having been quiet throughout the entirety of Mahiru's talk, he shot up, stopping her in the middle of her sentence.

"No, that's wrong!"

Maybe it was just instincts, but he knew had to do something.

"Huh?"

Mahiru reacted in surprise to the sudden outburst from Hinata. Her tears momentarily stopped, and she allowed Hajime to finish.

"Mahiru… I… how do I put this… You're amazing."

He hadn't really thought far enough ahead to know exactly what to say. The "amazing" was just kind of the first thing that popped into his mind.

But he knew that he meant it with all his heart.

"You're amazing, Mahiru. I mean it. The fact that you care about everyone here, no matter who they are. The fact that you always think of others before yourself. There's so many things you've done that make you one of the greatest people I've ever met. Hell, even when you get angry with me because I didn't do my bed! I know you say it because you care about me, you care about Hiyoko, you care about everyone here!"

Mahiru was staring wide-eyed at him. Only very few times had she ever received such a long list of praise from someone. The only other person who did that was… her mother. She remembered how happy she used to be whenever her mother would throw praise at her. She remembered how she would be more eager than ever to take new pictures every time her mother gave her praise…

She remembered how she would thank her mother after being given praise.

Mahiru quickly wrapped around Hajime, embracing him in a tight hug. Crying into his chest, her voice was muffled, but he clearly heard what she said.

"Thank you… Thank you, Hajime…"

Hajime relaxed, having previously tensed up from the surprise of being so suddenly hugged.

"You're welcome… and thank you too, Mahiru…"

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Hajime lifted her up until they were both at eye level with each other.

Mahiru wiped away the last tears, her eyes still red from crying.

She was smiling.

"Hey, Hajime?"

He gave her a surprised look.

"Yes?"

"Before … You said I… cared about you?"

Hajime's face immediately turned the purest shade of red, one to rival the hair of the girl sitting next to him. He hadn't really given much thought into what he said, he spoke directly from his heart. Did Mahiru care about him? Was that something he knew? Had he just said that to make her feel better?

"Uhh… I guess I did…"

He scratched his neck, cheeks still pure red.

Mahiru giggled, took her hands away from her eyes and looked him in the eyes.

"Then… do you also care about me?"

The question lingered in his mind for a second.

Do I care about Mahiru Koizumi?

It was a simple question. Did he care about what would happen to Mahiru? Did he care about her while speaking his heart out to her? Did he care about her before this night?

It suddenly hit him. The memory of the feeling he felt when Mahiru was talking herself down. Calling herself useless. Saying things that weren't true about herself. He remembered how he instantly, like a subconscious reflex, wanted to destroy all the doubts she had about herself. The feeling was painful. It filled him with sadness, anger and above else…

Despair.

Mahiru was the counter to the despair he was feeling at that point in time. There was a need for him to say that she was wrong. She was not just a nobody. She was the person he saw the most optimism in. She was the one who always tried to put others before herself…

She was his hope.

"…Yes. I do care about you Mahiru."

He held her hands tightly.

"I care about you so much."

Mahiru's smile grew even bigger as she closed her eyes and pulled Hajime in for another embrace.

The embrace was long, warm and above all, genuine. None of them said anything for a long time. Their emotions were the only ones doing the talking. It was one of those moments they couldn't describe as anything other than "perfect".

"Mahiru… I love you."

Hajime didn't feel like he had control over those words. They just slipped out of him. However, he knew that he definitely meant what he had just said with all of his heart.

He felt Mahiru jolt a little bit from what he had just said. Maybe it came as a shock to her? A moment of worrying passed as Hajime wondered if she was on the same level as him. Did she feel the same way? Did he go too far too quickly? Did he say it wron-

"Hajime… I love you too."

Hajime had never felt more relieved in his life. All the doubts that had quickly been piling up disappeared into thin air, allowing both of them to fully enjoy the moment.

The perfect moment turned into an even more amazing moment, as they released that they had finally found something worthy of hope in the middle of this despair-filled nightmare.

They had found each other.


	2. Alternate Prolouge

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi! Thanks for reading! Originally, this fanfic started out as a very dark and tragic fanfic, involving the death of Mahiru Koizumi. This prolouge ended up not being in the same style as the rest of the fic, so I didn't like it very much. The pacing isn't the best, it's kinda dragged out and goes on for way too long...**

 **I eventually decided to cut this idea and just go with the romance story instead.**

 **This is the prolouge that was cut from the original story, and I felt it would be a waste not to include it as a little bonus.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"A body has been discovered!"

Hajime stopped dead in his tracks.

He had just left the diner to go after Kazuichi to help set up a massive beach party. Or rather, was forced out the door due to the awkwardness of being in a room filled with bikini-clad girls his own age. Having to help Kazuichi set up the parasols and prepare a couple drinks just seemed like the perfect on-the-spot made up excuse to leave the room. His cheeks still red from the situation he had just found himself in, he took his first steps towards the beach, when it happened.

The body discovery announcement.

Hajime began shaking. He hoped he was never going to hear it again. He was absolutely sure that he was never going to hear it a second time. As much as he wanted to ignore it with all his might, it was impossible.

The announcement itself was light and optimistic in tone; a happy little bell sounding out through the speakers before Monokuma would go on, talking in a cheerful and high-pitched voice, almost as if the bear was finding enjoyment in it.

The tone of the announcement didn't match its contents. An announcement that somebody had just died was being said in such a happy manner.

The contrast alone was enough to make Hajime sick. The announcement crept into his mind, the voice of Monokuma playing on repeat inside his head.

"A body has been discovered!"

Still unable to move, Hajime's thoughts ran fast throughout his head.

"A-A… body?... No… No, that's… That can't be… Right?"

Was it real? Was Monokuma lying?

"No, it can't be real, there's just… there's no way… It's impossib-"

In the middle of his thoughts, a scream rang throughout, confirming the worst possible scenario.

"SOMEONE COME HEEEEREEE!"

Kazuichi's voice. No doubt about it.

Hajime's legs immediately took off running in the direction of the voice.

"Kazuichi! Hold on! I'm on my way!"

He felt like he was sprinting faster than ever before.

"Where are you!? Kazuichi!"

He continued to run in the direction of the scream he had heard until finally arriving at…

The Beach House.

Latching onto the doorknob, he pulled with all the strength he had to try and open it. He pulled and tried for several moments to open the door. He thought his hand was going to hurt after a while, or that was going to be out of breath, but the situation at hand had completely numbed his senses in favour of pure desperation. He needed to get in there. He needed to see if his worst fears had come true. He needed to see the people in the Beach House looking healthy and unharmed.

He needed to put away this feeling of despair like no other. He needed it gone as soon as possible.

After what seemed like an eternity of trying, Hajime came to the conclusion that the door simply wouldn't open. It wasn't as if it was locked, though. It was almost more like…

Someone had blocked the door from the other side.

Hajime felt his blood turn to ice. Everything was leading up to one horrifying conclusion.

"No… No! This- God, there has to be another way in…"

Hajime's mind raced through all the possibilities, quicker than even he himself could register it. It took him almost no time to remember another way to get in.

"The back door!"

Shouting loudly to himself, he rushed around the house. Sweat was beginning to visibly pile up on his forehead. Quickly wiping it away, he continued running as fast as possible until finally standing face to face with the back door. Standing still for just a brief second, he looked at the door, and thought about the possible outcomes of him opening it. Even though the possible outcomes were many, and most of them dark, Hajime grabbed onto the tiny bit of disbelief he had and went with it, giving him his only source of hope.

"It has to be fake. No one is dead. There couldn't have been another murder. I won't believe it for even a second."

He placed his hand on the doorknob, desperately holding on to the belief, which nothing had happened. The only thing he had left was that hope.

"I won't believe it!"

He opened the door in one swift motion.

"I… won't… believe it…"

All the energy that was previously running through him suddenly didn't exist anymore.

His entire body deflated. All the hope he had held onto vanished.

He had opened the door with the intent of scanning the entire room, making sure nothing was out of place. Instead, the moment the door opened, he found himself staring at one specific spot.

And he couldn't move his eyes away.

On the ground, leaning up against one of the walls of the beach house, was Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer. She had a painful expression on her face, and her body was not moving in the slightest. However, those details were not what was catching the majority of Hajime's attention.

Her head, hair, clothes, and the floor around her were all coated in blood.

The girl who only a few hours ago had been walking around, talking to people, eating & drinking, laughing… was now laying grey and pale on the ground covered in her own blood.

Time had frozen around Hajime. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing.

He tried blinking to see if that could somehow make it change.

Blink. Mahiru was still lying there.

He tried again. Still lying in a pool of blood.

He tried again, and again, and again.

Still lying there. Every single time, she was still lying there. Not moving. Not breathing. Not living.

Darkness began to cloud his vision. He felt weak, as if his legs couldn't bear his own weight. He stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground with every step. With every step he took, he felt like he'd just taken 2 steps back. He fought to get close to her. He had to get close to her. To feel her warmth. Hear her heartbeat. Just something to prove him wrong. Something to confirm that he would be able to speak to her again.

He finally reached her, and dropped to his knees, quickly putting his head to her chest.

No warmth.

No heartbeat.

No sign of life.

Without thinking, Hajime wrapped his arms around her. He didn't even stop for a second to consider the fact that Mahiru's clothes were incredibly bloody, and instead continued to hold her tightly. Not even once did he consider why he was doing it. It seemed more like a reaction, what he was doing, than an action he had prepared for. He continued to squeeze her tighter; feeling like a part of him believed that she might wake up. However, he knew deep down inside that, there was nothing that could be done.

Mahiru was dead.

Letting the tears run downs his cheek, he closed his eyes, letting his thoughts run wild in his head.

He expected his head to be a complete mess of unstable emotions, not letting him think clearly. However, he unexpectedly found himself stuck on a single memory. A single event, that happened one on of the first days of the school trip. A day in which only 2 people had died so far.

A day where Mahiru was still alive.


End file.
